On sixteen September 1963 Malaysia got here into being with the accession of Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore to the present Federation of Malaya. This booklet marks the fiftieth anniversary of this striking occasion in South East Asia's historical past. the focal point of the booklet could be regularly at the event of Sabah and Sarawak as matters of the federation. It seems on the event of federalism from a couple of assorted views, preserving in brain not only the consequences of federalism on Sabah and Sarawak but additionally the consequences at the federation as a complete. Has the cut price of 1963 been adhered to? Has Malaysian federalism been a winning instance of this manner of presidency in Asia, or has the cut price been undermined in methods opposite to the unique deal within the Malaysia contract of 1963? What were the sensible results on East Malaysia in the course of 50 years?

Federations often experience inter-governmental conflicts and transgressions, especially when the federal government centralises too much power at the expense of the states. In extreme cases such as the former Yugoslavia and the West Indies, they can even break up completely. All of these possible issues are explored in this Malaysian collection. It is also true, however, that we no longer regard federalism as the only way of solving these problems. Europe in particular experimented with various kinds of ‘devolution’, which involve a form of delegation of executive and legislative powers to a sub-national unit but without implications for national sovereignty.

Parliament is required annually to pay into a state reserve fund such sums as are deemed by it, after consultation with the NFC, to be necessary; and the Federation may from time to time make payments out of the Fund to the states for the purposes of development or to supplement revenues. All matters of potential controversy are dealt with by the NFC, and it is interesting to note that open fiscal controversy between a state and the Federation, or between states (with the exception of the issue of natural-resource revenues, as above), is rare.

The editors and publisher regret that in the first printing of this book the interview with Dato Dr Peter Mooney appeared with some errors. In particular the interview identified Dato Dr Peter Mooney incorrectly as ‘Tan Sri Sir Peter Mooney’. These errors have been corrected in this ebook edition. ANDREW HARDING (Singapore) JAMES CHIN (Kuala Lumpur) July 2014 These essays are the product of a workshop discussion at the National University of Singapore in September 2013, organised by the Centre for Asian Legal Studies.